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Box 3.2.2‘Things that work’ – disease prevention programs forIndigenous people in NSWNSW Aboriginal Vascular Health ProgamIn July 2000, the NSW Department of Health established the Aboriginal VascularHealth Program based on the premise that there are shared risk factors and riskconditions and common disease management approaches for a number of preventablevascular diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, strokeand hypertension. Since 2001, the NSW Department of Health has funded 23Aboriginal Vascular Health project sites in locations throughout the state, with anadditional nine sites operating through Justice Health. These projects work throughlocal partnerships and collaborations between service providers and communities todevelop culturally acceptable approaches for use in the prevention and management ofAboriginal chronic disease. The Aboriginal Vascular Health program continues to makesignificant gains, including: increasing access to care, improving service and programco-ordination, and supporting disease self-management for those identified withvascular disease. Critical to the success of the programs has been the recruitment ofdesignated Aboriginal Vascular Health Workers to work as part of the local primaryhealth care team.Health services for Indigenous people in custody, NSWIndigenous people in custody in NSW have access to a range of culturally sensitivehealthcare services and disease prevention programs. These services and programsare provided through working partnerships between Justice Health, NSW AboriginalCommunity Controlled Health Services and Area Health Services. Currently, 41 percent of Indigenous men and 58 per cent of Indigenous women in custody have accessto this range of dedicated services. Justice Health has specific health promotion andeducation programs targeted at the Indigenous population in the correctionalenvironment. In 2006, 338 participants accessed disease prevention programs and 375participants took part in Aboriginal Men’s Health and Indigenous Games exerciseactivities.The potentially debilitating long term health conditions reported in this chapterinclude: arthritis, asthma, back pain/problems, diabetes/high sugar levels,ear/hearing problems, eye/sight problems, heart and circulatory problems/diseases,kidney disease, neoplasms/cancer and osteoporosis. For diabetes/high sugar levels,the rates are also disaggregated by the type of usual daily activities affected by thecondition (for example, work, study and other day to day activities).In addition to serious illness, Indigenous people have high exposure to a range ofother ‘personal stressors’ that may contribute to the development of long termhealth conditions. Most prevalent among these stressors are death of a familymember or close friend, alcohol and drug problems, family member(s) sent toprison or currently in prison, overcrowding at home, and not being able to get a jobHEADLINEINDICATORS11